Warning: This contains spoilers for Lightyear.
Lightyear has a total of three post-credits scenes, and here is an explanation of all of them, including how one sets up a potential sequel. While post-credits scenes are usually associated with superhero movies, there are many examples of other types of movies doing them, albeit because of how popular superhero movies have made them. Pixar has been no stranger to post-credits scenes over the years, and Lightyear keeps the trend going.
Many Pixar movies have had post-credits scenes, but unlike most superhero movies, they’re just silly bonus scenes that add a little bit extra to the movie. For example, the end of Toy Story 4 had some extra scenes with all of the toys going about their lives and showed Duke Kaboom by the logo instead of Luxo Jr. More recently, Turning Red had Mei’s father dancing to one of her 4*Town CDs. Pixar was even doing it before superhero movies popularized the concept, like when Finding Nemo had the anglerfish eaten by a tiny fish, and Cars parodied older Pixar movies and then also continued a joke about a couple who are looking for directions to the interstate.
Pixar movies have a history of post-credits scenes, and Lightyear keeps that going with a total of three post-credits scenes. The first two are just short, silly scenes playing off of jokes from the movie, but the third one is more in line with the typical idea in that it teases the potential for Lightyear 2. In terms of quantity and overall content, Disney Pixar's Lightyear is a step above its predecessors, and here’s an explanation of every post-credit scene and what the last one could mean for a potential sequel.
Lightyear Post-Credits Scene #1’s Pixar Reference Explained
Lightyear’s first post-credits scene has Commander Burnside laughing as one of the insects of Tikana Prime is killed by his laser shield, validating his earlier insistence on putting it in. It’s a short, funny scene, and another thing of note is that it contains a small Pixar reference. By looking closely at the top shelf to the left of Burnside, there’s a trophy with a figure that bears a resemblance to BURN-E, the protagonist of the Disney Pixar WALL-E short of the same. Lightyear’s director, Angus MacLane, also directed BURN-E back in 2008, so it serves as a nice, quick reference to his past work.
Lightyear After-Credits Scene #2 Pays Off A Great Movie Joke
During Lightyear, when Buzz needs to figure out how to find a new ship, a robot named DERIC tries to give him directions to a hangar, but he keeps getting confused and starting over, and Buzz and his team end up abandoning him to go to the hangar on their own. Lightyear's second post-credits scene continues the joke by revealing that DERIC was still working out the directions, even though days, possibly weeks, had gone by since everyone left him. It’s only then that he finishes mapping out directions, and DERIC ends up confused as to where everyone went. The joke was already funny in the movie, and the post-credits scene gives it a great payoff that makes it even funnier.
Lightyear End-Credits Scene #3: How Did Zurg Survive & What It Means
Lightyear villain Zurg is seemingly killed at the end of the movie when Buzz triggers an explosion by shooting a container of hyperspace fuel, but in the third and final post-credits scene, Zurg’s eyes flash red to reveal that he’s still alive. It’s unknown how he survived, but considering how his suit is made from technology hundreds of years more advanced than Star Command’s, it might have been strong enough to let him withstand the blast with nothing more than a temporary shutdown. This means Zurg could come back in a potential sequel to exact his revenge on Buzz, thus setting up their antagonistic relationship in Toy Story media.
Will Lightyear Get A Sequel?
At the moment, there’s no word on a Lightyear sequel, but it would be easy enough for it to happen. As previously mentioned, the Zurg reveal sets up a chance for future conflict between him and Buzz that can create their eventual hero-villain dynamic. Not only that, but a sequel could allow for other elements of Buzz Lightyear’s lore to be explored, such as the Little Green Men, and it could even be used to canonize elements from the Buzz Lightyear of Star Command cartoon.
The biggest thing working against it is that Pixar has been focusing on original stories since Toy Story 4, so Lightyear could easily just be a standalone story. However, Lightyear arguably works against that by being a spinoff of the original Toy Story franchise, so Pixar may be open to continuing older stories again. With that in mind, assuming that Lightyear can find critical and commercial success, it would be easy enough to see a sequel happen later down the line.